“I have become small (katonti) from all the kindnesses and from all the truth that You have rendered Your servant, for with my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps” (Genesis 32:11). This statement is part of Jacob’s plea to God to protect him from his brother Esau who is coming to meet him with 400 men as Jacob prepares to re-enter the Land of Israel with his family after a 20-year absence.
One might expect that the musical cantillation on the word katonti, “I have become small,” would go down in scale to indicate a sense of existential lowliness and humbleness. Instead, the note on this word is called azla geresh, which is an uplifting and inspiring note moving dramatically up the scale. This teaches that it is not unrestrained ego or arrogance that elevates a person’s spirit, rather it is a sincere sense of humility and gratitude, such as we find expressed in the verse above, that truly raises one’s spirit and brings real and lasting joy.
